Emotionally (and Colorfully) Brilliant

Oohhhh….. tell me, tell me, tell me….. How do you pick that particular one (or seven) lipstick / blushie / eyeliner / eyeshadow(s) each morning? How do you ‘know’, just know, that it will be your perfect companion that day, to assist you in your date with destiny today?

Some of you may be part of ‘asal-ngambil’ type, like me, whose major identifier is the ability to grab anything in the closest proximity and eschew color-matching theory. Some of you may be more gifted on planning and can actually match the color of your LOTD/COTD/EOTD with your Today’s Outfit as in “This lipstick matches my new red chanel, which is 12a instead of 12c color!!” (Note: if you don’t understand the codes in this sentence, please mingle in FD forum 🙂 ).

Anyway, what if I tell you that there is another approach on color-picking which will give you not only a healthier wallet, a less stressful morning and also help you to be who you aspire to be? Well, tada for Lush’s new Emotional Brilliance campaign!!!

You may remember Lush as the innovative, minimalistic-approach on packaging, skincare company as discussed in my previous review. Now apparently they also put an interesting, innovative spin on their color products. Granted, Lush is kind of new in color department, as makeup is not exactly in line with their ‘Naked’ principle. Make-up often requires packaging, as blush on in paperbag may not really appealing. Lush did make a stint of color cosmetics in one of their affiliates ‘B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful’, which sadly was closed down several years ago. However, coincided with this year’s big trend on color, colorful makeups have been appearing on Lush shelves. Rest assured, all Lush’s makeups are still minimally packaged, with little preservatives, and all tested exclusively on humans.

Now, back to the Emotional Brilliance approach. The idea is that we ourselves –not our bag, our friends, or the Beauty List in InStyle magazine- know unconsciously which color that resonates to us and thus suitable for us. Color that speaks to you, that will put spotlight on your emotional brilliance – right here, and right now.

So you choose 3 colors from Lush’ wheel of color (either the real wheel in the store or the virtual wheel on www.lush.co.uk). The three colors and the orders you chose them in reflect your strength or weakness, your subconscious and your aspiration. There’s a rainbow of colors to choose from, each represents one emotion and available only in either Liquid Lipstick, Cream Eyeshadow Liner or Liquid Eyeliner. Those colors (and those products) are the ones for you, that will enable you to be emotionally brilliant. Only 3 products = healthier wallet + less stressful morning, rite?

I did play the wheelie several times, all with different results. One time my result was 3 lipsticks and no eyeliner, ‘ There is no way I could survive with 3 lipsticks and no eyeliner, so I bid those results goodbye. Maybe I am too schizophrenic for Lush’ wheelies, but finally I decided to choose lipstick the traditional way, by swiping several colors that I like to my hand.

The color that I finally chose is Strong, a blood orange color which looks like NARS’ Exhibit A. And boy oh boy, do I feel strong in it. It’s not drying, but also not watery. No gloopy goo, just pure vivid pigment. It’s even more pigmented than NARS Exhibit A. Crazy, huh? It’s definitely pop against my face; so much as I only use it as a stain. Even in its blotted form it succeeds in giving my face that ‘cling’ factor!

Now, it’s not a permanent stain and I find that with eating and drinking it will fade away. But it fades away well and don’t leave my face with ring-o-the-lips pigment. It is also very light, not cloying, and definitely don’t make my lips dry. The only telltale hint that it’s not your normal lipstick is that it’s a bit gritty. But hey, the grittiness is a price I am gladly pay for the Technicolor hue!

I haven’t had the chance to play with the eyeliners and eyeshadows, mostly because am a cross-my-heart-and-lemme-die fan of Bobby Brown Gel Liner. However, I did play a bit with Lush’ mascara, dubbed Eyes Right.

Eyes Right is definitely right, as it contains only one preservative, compared to the usual 3-6 in normal mascaras. Amazingly, the natural ingredients doesn’t make it the disastrously bleberan kemana-mana. I tried it on my hand, and it holds up quite OK.

Interested to try Lush’ products? Check Market Plaza’s Beauty Warehouse or  buy it yourself from lush.co.uk. Usually safe at the customs, as long as you keep the value less than £50.